


why can’t i say that i’m in love? (i wanna shout it from the rooftops)

by delorange



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: 5+1, F/M, actually quite soft, burke’s just confused the whole time tbh, but slightly AU, in that they don’t go to the chief about their relationship and just get it over and done with, set sometime around 2x07, they’re not as smart in this universe, title makes it sound far more angsty than it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:21:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24498616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delorange/pseuds/delorange
Summary: 5 people asking Burke about his relationship + 1 person telling him why
Relationships: Preston Burke/Cristina Yang
Comments: 15
Kudos: 28





	why can’t i say that i’m in love? (i wanna shout it from the rooftops)

**Author's Note:**

> hello! ew, that was weird. oh well. i haven’t a clue how i (me!) had such a good idea, but i’m afraid it’s probably butchered with inexperienced writing. hope you enjoy nonetheless!
> 
> title from secret love song by little mix (a band absolutely criminally underrated by the rest of the world btw)

1\. Meredith  
Burke needs someone to assist him with an aortic dissection, and all five of Dr Bailey's interns are staring at him hopefully. He finds it hard to keep his eyes off of Cristina, and her eyes are so big and pleading and gorgeous that he almost gives in and gives her the surgery she deserves, but when he already gave her a surgery yesterday he just can't. 

They can't display anything that even resembles favouritism whatsoever. He won't turn her into the new Meredith Grey, resident Seattle Grace slut. He figures he should throw the poor girl in question a bone, so he nods at her. "Come on, Grey."

The other four deflate. Cristina frowns deeply, and he desperately wants to kiss it off of her face right there and then, in front of everyone. But he doesn't, obviously, and leads Meredith to the scrub room. When they're washing their hands, after everyone is already in the theatre, she smirks, "You know, I was sure you were picking Cristina."

He doesn't look up at her. "Why would you think that?"

"Oh, you know..." There's something in her voice that's far too knowledgeable for his liking.

"Actually I don't know, Dr Grey, I think you should drop the subject, don't you agree?" He tries his hardest to remain nonchalant. The last thing he wants to do is confirm any suspicions she has. 

"Sorry, Dr Burke." She's apologetic, but only slightly. Her grin returns seconds later. 

He draws a shaky breath and goes into the OR.

2\. George  
He's working at the nurses' station when a code blue is called down the hall. He sprints into the room to find George desperately trying to resuscitate a young man who's gone into cardiac arrest. "He was fine a minute ago, Dr Burke, I don't know- he just- he crashed, I-"

"That's okay, Dr O'Malley, tell me what I need to know." He's cool as a cucumber. George rattles off the necessary information as the nurses ready the defibrillator.

There's nothing to suggest an alternate route is needed, but once the man's heart is beating of it's own accord again, he hands George the laryngoscope to intubate to help with the patient's respiratory issues. George looks visibly shaken, and once he's finished intubating, Burke claps him on the back. 

George almost jumps out of his skin. "I'm sorry, Dr Burke, I don't know- I just-" Burke cuts him off. 

"Don't worry about it, O'Malley, you did well." He regards George with a careful eye as the intern steps back and looks him up and down. A smile stretches on his face. 

"So this is what it looks like. A man in love," he sighs. 

"Excuse me?" Burke glares stonily. 

"Well I, uh- I just thought... you and, uh..." He realises he needs to shut up pretty quickly. "I'm leaving now." George can't scamper away fast enough, and the event leaves Burke on edge. He pages Cristina immediately. 

3\. Bailey  
He's walking with Bailey when he finally spots Cristina in a stairwell. She didn't answer his page, and it doesn't fill him with confidence.  
It's risky in front of Bailey, but he needs to speak to her before his surgery after lunch. "Yang!" 

She speeds up almost imperceptibly, the only indication she's heard him, and he repeats himself once they're closer, so she can't pretend. She turns stiffly, bottom lip drawn between her teeth. "You didn't answer my page."

"I was helping Dr Montgomery-Shepherd with something," she lies confidently. The only tell was her slight glance at Bailey, who probably knew where she actually was. 

He folds his arms. "And she'll tell me that, will she?"

Cristina looks thoroughly uncomfortable. "Sorry, Dr Burke, Dr Bailey, Addison-"

"Dr Shepherd," he corrects. 

She tries again. " _Dr Shepherd_ (it's not visible, but the eye roll is definitely audible) she's waiting for her, ah-" she looks down at the bagel she's holding in her hand and curses softly. Burke's lip quirks ever so slightly, despite his annoyance. "-bagel, so, uh..." she finishes, and bolts through the door onto the corridor.

"Trouble in paradise?" He jumps - he'd almost forgotten Bailey was there. He wishes he was alone so he could've properly grilled Cristina. The phrasing of Bailey’s question takes him completely by surprise.

"Paradise is hardly the right word with her," he laughs awkwardly. Cristina would kill him if she could hear him now. 

"My husband's just the same." She smiles and takes off down the next flight of stairs. He's spluttering as he stumbles behind her.

4\. Derek  
He's looking over a case for the next day with Derek when Meredith walks past. She nods politely to Burke, and Derek tries to stop her, speak to her but she's having none of it. She ignores him, and the nurses around them start whispering and gossiping. Yet another example of why he and Cristina are best kept a secret. 

Derek drops his head on the desk. "Why don't you get all of this abuse, huh?" he laments.

Burke grins,"Maybe because I don't sleep with my interns?" Big fat lie, not that Derek knows that. 

His head whips up at that. "You don't?" He looks genuinely worried.

Burke's hands go clammy. He wipes them on his scrubs as inconspicuously as possible. "N-no, of course not." His stutter seems to confirm whatever Derek thinks he knows, as he relaxes, with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Of course not," he echoes.

5\. Chief  
"Dr Burke!" There's something in the chief's voice that's far more cheery than usual as he calls him from up the corridor. Burke doesn't like it. 

"Dr Webber," he greets. 

"Can I have a word?" His heart plummets into his stomach. His pulse quickens as he tries to think about what he's done recently, any issues that could have arisen, any... loose-lipped girlfriends he could have encountered.  
"Sorry, sir, I have a pacemaker waiting to be fitted in OR 2. I'll find you after?"

"It will only take a minute." Burke nods reluctantly. You can't refuse the chief. 

They don't go to his office, like Burke expected, they just find a quiet corner of the corridor. Hopefully that means it's not as official as he was expecting. "I just needed to let you know, you can come to me with anything, you know that, right?"

It's an unbelievably odd thing to say - but, then again, today has been the day for odd things. "Uh, yes, Chief, of course."

"Anything at all, I mean it, anything that's bothering you, any... relationships that have the potential to distract you from your work?"

Instead of the panic he probably should feel, he's confused and borderline angry with Cristina. Even if they haven't said it, almost everyone he's spoken to today has alluded to some sort of connection between them. She agreed, _they_ agreed, no telling anyone. No turning into Meredith and Derek. 

He sucks in a breath. "No, sir." 

Richard stares at him like he knows he's lying. He considers him carefully, like he's giving him the opportunity to change his wrong answer. When Burke doesn't say anything, he nods once. "Okay then."

"Sir." He can't escape the situation fast enough. 

His anger, he realises when he's scrubbing in, doesn't feel a whole lot like anger. Okay, so maybe anger, but definitely cut with something closer to disappointment. He shakes himself, and thanks whoever's up there there's no gallery for her to watch from. To _distract_ him. 

+1. Cristina  
Cristina's shift ended before his, and she managed to avoid him for the rest of the day, but once they're home there's no hiding. There's a takeaway in the oven for him, and he takes it into the bedroom, where he finds Cristina curled up in their bed with a book on her lap, shovelling noodles into her mouth. He smiles, but quickly reminds himself what he needs to say. 

When she looks up at his presence, her face is like a deer caught in headlights, which suggests to him she knows exactly the conversation they're about to have. "Before you say anything-"

He cuts her off. "Who was it? Grey? Then did she tell Derek? And maybe Miranda too? And what about the Chief, where did he hear it?" 

Once he starts, he finds it far too easy to carry on. "You just put both our careers on the line, I hope you know that. You've seen what's happened to Meredith, you know better than anyone what's she's going through." He takes a deep breath, tries to calm himself. "Do you want that for yourself? For me?"

"Burke, I-" she stops and sighs. "Look, do you really want to know how everyone found out?"

She realises pretty quickly everyone probably wasn't the best word choice. "In my defence, when I say everyone, I thought it was just Mer, George, uh, Izzie, Alex and McDreamy, honestly."

He shakes his head, "Word travels fast, you know that-" 

He's about to launch into another tirade, he can feel it, but she stops him. "My lock screen!"

He stops dead. "What?"

"They found out we were dating because my lock screen is a picture of you. Okay? Happy?" She reaches for her phone on the nightstand protectively. 

All his exasperation melts away, and he can feel the laughter bubbling in his chest. "Let me see!" 

"No, no- I- !" He pounces on her and wrestles it out of her hands, ignoring her protests. It's a picture of him from about two weeks ago, making dinner for the both of them. She won't meet his eyes as he beams. 

"Aw, you're such a sap, aren't you?" He kisses her cheek, but she wipes it away and crosses her arms indignantly. 

"I am not."

He chuckles. "If it makes you feel any better..." He pulls his own phone from his back pocket and hands it to her. His own lock screen is a picture of her mid-rant about... he can't even remember. She makes a gagging noise. 

"I can't believe you would pick such an awful picture of me to look at several times a day, every day? This is... ugh, awful. Nobody is allowed to see it, ever." She drops the phone on the bed with a grimace. "It's not like I'm lacking in nice photos either." She can't fight the bright smile forcing it's way onto her face seconds later. 

He shrugs, mirroring her grin. "I prefer to keep it real."

"Asshole." She elbows him in the arm, then lifts that arm around her and she snuggles down into his chest. They lie in silence for a few moments.

She sniffs and wraps herself around him even more. "So, uh, what are we going to do?"

He rubs circles into Cristina's back as he shakes his head, "I have no idea."

She nods. "Neither do I."After a beat of silence, she reaches into the bag and pops one of his dumplings into her mouth. 

He glares at her, "When I open that bag, how many dumplings will I have left?" 

In place of a reply, she bursts out laughing.


End file.
